Vernal man arrested for alleged kidnapping, assault

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A Vernal man was in jail Thursday after an alleged assault and kidnapping of a 3-year-old girl and her mother, who police say was shot in the legs with rubber bullets.

Brandon Martin Castillo, 27, pulled a gun on the 21-year-old mother during an argument Tuesday night at his home, the Uintah County Sheriff's Office said in a news release. He then forced the woman and her child into his car and drove south of Vernal to a remote Uintah County dirt road, police said.

Once out of the vehicle, Castillo shot the woman in one leg, police said, and then again in the other as she tried to flee. It appears the woman may have been shot with rubber bullets from a pellet gun, said Uintah County Sheriff's Cpl. Dustin Cheshire.

Castillo also is accused of grabbing the woman's daughter from the car and threatening to shoot her. She was not injured, Cheshire said.

After the shooting, police said, Castillo drove the woman and her child back to his home. Castillo and the woman have been in a relationship, police said.

The woman, who was not seriously injured, called police Wednesday to report the attack. She also told police she was repeatedly assaulted by Castillo during the incident.

Castillo was arrested Wednesday night and was being held in the Uintah County Jail without bail on suspicion of aggravated kidnapping, child kidnapping and two counts of aggravated assault.

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